Foolish Love
by Seductive Venus
Summary: Wise men become fools because of love. Shikamaru isn't spared from Cupid's arrows.


A/N: A brainstorm after reading Ino's Miso Soup by Ate syaoran no hime and visiting her blog. You guessed it, a ShikaIno fanfic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A Foolish Love and Chippy

By: Dark-Hooded Eriol the Magician

Summer was at its peak and even in the forest pervaded the uncomfortable feeling of heat. A trio composed of two boys and a girl rested under a huge peach tree with cool shade shielding them from the afternoon sun.

Nara Shikamaru opened an eye and sneaked a look at his two teammates. His best friend, Akimichi Chouji who possessed a stomach like a void, was munching quite happily on a bag of Chippy™. Yamanaka Ino on the other hand had fallen asleep while resting against the trunk.

He sighed and fanned himself lightly with his hand. It was so hot that even Asuma-sensei agreed to let them off training. Of course, he didn't mind the idle time because that meant he could sleep some more.

He glanced at his blond teammate secretly. She looked beautiful with her bangs framing her face and accentuating her finer points like her fine nose, long dark lashes fringing her eyes, and her perfect pink lips. Immediately he shifted his gaze to the uninteresting view of the tress before him.

Shikamaru didn't want Chouji to think he was staring at Ino. That would be foolish. Besides, why would he want to be caught staring at her as if she were the most beautiful being in the world? He'd prided himself to be above such things because it would be a waste of time for someone with his character.

He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately for him his eyes didn't seem to want to cooperate because they wanted to focus somewhere else. Like Ino's face, for example.

Ino was very pretty and with her strong, assertive character commanded respect. She wasn't exactly someone to be dealt with easily in the battlefield, both verbally and physically. Not in the same league in academics with Shikamaru and her rival Sakura, Ino was street smart and in a league all her own.

The candidate for chuuninship sighed yet again and continued to fan himself. The heat always made him think of stupid things.

But it was an undeniable fact that he was very fond of Ino. He was the only person on the whole wide world who would endure her punches and pummeling without complaint. He was the only one who considered the risks and weighed the situations on missions to keep her safe. He was the only guy in the world who would readily say 'yes' to her without thinking twice. Yes indeed, he was very fond of his blond teammate.

Shikamaru snapped out of his gaze when he realized that he was staring. He knew that Chouji would be quite oblivious of his surroundings when eating but it wouldn't hurt to play safe. After all, it wouldn't do if word leaked out that he was getting interested in the only girl of the team who is also incidentally the only girl in his life.

There was a weak wind but it was enough to rustle the leaves above them. The vast blue sky was dotted with lazy white clouds. Shikamaru decided to stare at them instead and to ponder on his thoughts some more.

He recalled when he met Yamanaka-san, some years ago when he was but a little boy. It was almost like this with the blue sky and the unbearable heat; he was also lying under a tree.

"Why aren't you playing?" a deep voice asked. A sleepy eye opened to take in the image of a tall man with clear eyes and an amiably curious expression on his face before sitting up.

"It's too troublesome," he muttered with a yawn.

"Don't you like exercise like other children?" The man asked, looking even more curiously at him as he sat down beside him. "Don't you want to play and run?"

"No… too troublesome, I'd rather watch the clouds do the running for me," Shikamaru had answered and to his astonishment, the man laughed and looked at him thoughtfully. He said he'd introduce him to his daughter someday and hoped they would be friends because he was such an interesting boy. Shikamaru smiled at him and said he would like that.

Her name was Yamanaka Ino. She had eyes that resembled the clear summer skies, laughter like bells, and a confident personality. And she was as sweet as she was annoying, she made him smile at her jokes, and he felt that it was the start of a lifelong friendship. He was right because their friendship existed until now and he had no intention of to break it.

Shikamaru smiled a little in spite of himself at his reminiscing. On the day he met her, he knew they were meant to be together. They would grow up together, study ninja skills, marry, and remain friends forever. He didn't know how or why but that was what he'd always felt whenever he remembered the moment she first took his hand to lead him away.

There would be hours that the shadow master would spend his days (and nights) wondering and thinking about Ino. He knew everything going on her life, including her love life and frustrations and little problems. He'd tried to shake it away as brotherly concern but as much as he wanted to think like that, it wasn't. And that was what he'd always been afraid of.

Years would pass and he would always be her Shika-chan as she was his Ino-chan. The tenderness between them as children was preserved but as unpredictable as the changing tides because they were growing up. It touched his heart and somehow he couldn't imagine his life without it.

He was her best friend, her best listener when she rants, raves and cries about Sasuke. Although it hurt a lot, he didn't mind it because she was happy. Her happiness meant a lot to him and he'd give anything in the world just to keep her smile as radiant as before.

There was another man in her life, one that she thought she's always loved and adored. He was none other than the cold and quiet Uchiha Sasuke. This dark-haired heir to the Sharinggan was the cause of the broken friendship between her and Sakura Haruno, her wishes to become the perfect wife and strongest female shinobi, and her countless tears. Shikamaru had sworn secretly to himself to beat Uchiha Sasuke up if he plays with her heart or breaks it. It would be more painful than the Forbidden Seal and he would deliver the coup de grace without any mercy.

Ino said she loved Sasuke with all her heart. But that didn't mean he would take that part of her heart reserved only for Shikamaru. In a way, the shadow master was both happy and sad. Selfish as his feelings were, he decided it was better that way rather than to do something to change it. She loves him as his friend and nothing more.

It was a foolish love and Shikamaru, with every ounce of his IQ of 200, knew it.

He loved Ino but he valued their friendship more. It wasn't worth the awkwardness and silences between them after the inevitable confession. Painful as it might be, it was better to remain best friends than risk taking it up to another level.

Shikamaru was also sure that she wouldn't take him seriously. He was nothing but her lazy, good-for-nothing bum of a best friend. It would be hard to imagine in her perspective that he'd even take the time to fall in love with her when he wouldn't want to train harder. Besides, she loved Sasuke and Shikamaru had to admit that he cannot compare himself to him.

It was foolish of him to think that Ino would even glance his way sometime and smile at him with the smile she reserved for Sasuke alone. Wise men lose their way when in love. Shikamaru was just a man foolishly in love with his childhood best friend.

But he was thankful for everything that was between them. He was also a special person in her life but not in the way he expected. An audible sigh escaped Shikamaru's lips. Fate could be so cruel sometimes.

He glanced at Ino's sleeping face and smiled. She wasn't aware of his gaze and was probably dreaming of her beloved. Chouji was starting to eat his second bag of Chippy™.

Shikamaru sat up.

"Hey Chouji, pass me the Chippy," the black-haired boy said and as he crunched on the salty snack he thought that it would've been better to stay like this. If he did make a move on Ino then they couldn't spend a hot afternoon like this together with their one and only girl teammate asleep and the two boys eating Chippy™ happily.

As usual, the heat makes him think his feelings and thoughts and the Chippy™ was an easy way out of the depression from crushed love. Ino would punch him, Chouji will eat, and Shikamaru would always love her, foolish as it may be.

Nov.11, 2004; 9:35 pm brainstorm

A/N (part 2): I wrote the opening the other night for the sake of the title and then I started to write it seriously tonight. It isn't well plotted out but I just hope the characters are in character crosses fingers

That's it. Thanks to you Ate Syao, you're always my inspiration!


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